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Articles

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2006)

Étude diachronique du /ᴐ/ devant R et L en français cadien dans le parler de quatre générations de femmes cadiennes

  • Sylvie Dubois
  • Carole Salmon
Submitted
October 15, 2012

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the phonetic variation of the sound / ᴐ / preceding R and L in Cajun French, in the speech of women born between 1890 and 1949, from four parishes in South Louisiana. Originally built from two different databases, our sample is comprised of 29 Cajun French speakers representing four generations. We discuss the Latin origin of the phonetic variation and the diachronic evolution of the variable in France up to the 20th century as well as its usage in Acadia, Canada. We present the intergenerational usage of the variants [ᴐ] and [o] by Cajun French women. The seniors and the middle-aged women seem to have initiated a linguistic change whereas the preceding generations show a variable but stable use of both variants over time. Having doubts about the hypothesis of an ongoing linguistic change, we examine the stylistic variation in two different sets of interviews.